Many of us are trying to decide what we should be providing to add value to our treatment as usual for those suffering from bipolar disorders. The National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE), the organization that provides national treatment guidelines in England & Wales, plumps for cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) – an interesting choice when the UK Medical Research Council trial was essentially negative (Scott et al. Reference Scott, Paykel, Morriss, Bentall, Kinderman, Johnson, Abbott and Hayhurst2006). Colom and his colleagues in Barcelona urge us to adopt a group psychoeducational approach.

This book is a very practical guide to doing exactly that. It sets out a 21-session programme in detail, including information on learning about the course of the illness, adherence to particular medications, substance misuse issues and individualized recognition of early signs of relapse. It closes with sections on regular habits, stress management and problem solving. The book is peppered with anecdotes about the authors' experience of running the program and dealing with difficulties. It is explicitly ‘biological’ in its orientation and stresses evidence in favour of this approach, and it expects participants to buy into this model.

The book is sufficient for those with a thorough knowledge of bipolar disorder to use it as an off-the-shelf course and it lives up to its label as a manual. The market for this book is clearly for those that are considering implementing this package. I am doubtful if others would find it of general interest, as a more standard approach would be more useful for those who are aiming to improve their knowledge of bipolar disorder. I suspect that few clinical services will implement it, just as I am also doubtful that CBT for bipolars will be readily available in the British National Health Service despite national guidance on this. However, there are interesting private-sector developments here in the UK, where a mandate to move services away from the usual NHS provider to private (including not-for-profit) organizations is emerging. A private group or charity using the stand-alone evidence-based approach presented here might well find a niche in this new healthcare world.

I am always reluctant to criticize those who write so proficiently outside their native tongue given the reputation we British have for our poor foreign-language skills, but some of the language here would have benefited from further editing. There are also some real cultural differences and the strongly didactic tone of the book might not go down well in groups where questioning received wisdom is the norm and providing information requires negotiating rather than putting someone right.

However, I suspect that in my local service, we will be making good use of this book as it appears easily adaptable to a wide range of people with bipolar disorder. One question I would have liked to have seen answered is: what proportion of our patients are likely to take up and use these groups? But the answer is probably similar to the same question about take up of CBT – it depends crucially on how committed the people who implement the package are and how well they can connect with those of us who are providing the treatment as usual.